Closure fastener



' July 25, 1944-0 5 BROWN 2,354,498

CLOSURE FASTENER Filed Dec; 4, 1941 Fig l 3 INVENTOR HARIQY. 5. BROWN 24 wwzm ATTORNEY sum from the container. tainers are difficult to provide with closure fas-- Patented July 25, 1944 CLOSURE FASTENER I Harry 'S. Brown, Stafford County; Va., assignor to Sylvania Industrial" Corporation, Fredencksburg, Va., a corporation of Virginia Application December 4, 1941, Serial No. 421,591

2 Claims.

The present: invention relates to closure fasteners. More particularly, it relates to fasteners for retaining the tops of boxes, cases, buckets and other containers in closed position during shipping, storage, handling or any time when;

the closure is likely to be dislodged from the container. 7

Many types of containers, for example, shipping containers, arefilled with heavy and bulky products or commoditie which exert considerable pressure on thecontainer closure when the containers are up-ended during handling, shipping or storage, which tends to remove the clo- In addition, such conteners because the exterior of the containers must be maintained substantially free from projections which would be vulnerable to damage durin handling and shipping'and thereby impaired to the point where failure would be im-" minent and loss or damage to the contents would become likely. Because of the absence of closure fasteners which were capable of maintaining closures in tight, dirt-excluding position on containers and at the same time capable of besorted to such expedients as sealing tapes, sealing flaps and the like which are slow of application, unsightly in appearance and frequently undependable in function.

It is an object of the present invention to pro- Y vide a closure fastener which overcomes all of the foregoing difiiculties.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a closure fastener which provides a maximum of strength and at the same time is relatively simple'in structure.-

It is another object of the present invention to provide a closure fastener which isurged into t ghter fastening cooperation with the container and the closure when forces tending to remove the closure from the container are exerted upon it.

Other object and advantages, if not specifically pointed out, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of what are now considered the preferred forms of the invention.

The closure fastener of the present invention in general comprises a clip-having suitable projections for locking a portion of the clip 'into tight contact with some part of the container toward the midsection of the leg l2.

closure, and also having projections -forslocking contact with the body of the container and are .sopo'sitioned that the two set of projections are urged into tighter locking cooperation with the container and the closure when force is exerted upon the container closure in a direction to. remove it from the container. I

The invention accordingly comprises an article' of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and thescope of the invention Will b indicated in the claims.' I

For a. more complete understanding of the invention reference should be madeto'the fol- .lowing detailed description and the attached drawing in whichlike reference characters refer -to like parts throughout and'in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a clip of the present invention, showing the preferred shape of the clip prior to attachment to closure, Y and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary-vertical view of *a-container and a container closure showing the clo-' sure fastener in operative'po'sition.

The container closure fastener in its now prea container ferred form comprises a;clip 'H) which is illustrated in Fig. 1 in the form which it takes prior to being applied to a container closure; The clip comprises a leg member [2 whichis preferably formed integrally with a shorter'leg member which extends at an angle to the leg l2 which is something'less than 90, for example 30 to 60 degrees. The'leg member 12 is provided withpointed projections [6 which may be suitably formed'by punching out the projections from the body of the leg member I2 by a punch press or similar apparatus. The projections I6 may be of any desired number, although several of them are preferred, and in the event only one or two are employed,it is preferred-that the small number of projections be positioned The short leg [4 is also provided with aprojection l8 which may be formed in the same manner as the projections I6 and in addition is provided with turned-over members 20 which are sharpened to form lugs.

The closure fastener of the present invention I 'projectionsslightly penetrate the wall 30.

closure is then moved in a direction to normally,

longer leg I2 of the clip with the bottom edge-of the wall in contact with the vertex of the angle formed by the legs I2 and I4, and the leg I4 is bent toward the leg I2 in any suitable manner as by a clamp, hammer, pliers,- or the like, as

illustrated in Fig. 2. This causes the lugs 20 and.

the projection I8 to penetrate the wall 22 of the container closure and to prevent removal of the clip from the container closure wall 22 merely by relatively sliding action between the clip and the closure wall.

By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that any relatively sliding action between the closure fastener and the wall 22 will result in the projection -I8 being more deeply embedded in the wall 22,

which tends to force the legs I2 and I4 into tighter clamping relation with the closure wall 22 and therebylocks the clip .into tighter gripping contact with the container closure. -,As many closure fasteners I as desired may be positioned around the side. wall .322 ofthe container closure.

The container closure is then slipped over the open end of the container 24-until the top 26 of the container closure contacts the top edge 28 of the'container wall 30. This causes the container closure wall 22 to be forced outwardly by the sharpened projections I6 sliding over the container wallet) and the sharp ends of these The remove it from the container wall 30 which causes the sharpened projections I6 to force their way .into the containerwall 30 and bring the container-closure wall 22 into tight contact withthe Thereafter, any effort to remove the. container closureby pulling in a. direction to nor- Wall 30.

mally slide it off of the container causes the container closure to be locked into tighter closing relation with the container.

Whenit is desired that the container closure top 26 be. held: in tight sealing relation with the top edge 28 of the container wall to obviate the possibility of dirt, dust or moisture finding its way intothe container, the container closure fastener may be applied. by first forcing the projections I6 ofthe leg 12 into-the side wall 30 of the container so. that the top of the leg I2 of the clip is flush with the top edge 28of the container wall 30 when the projections I6 have been forced sufficiently into the wall 30 to bring-theleg I2 into tight. contact with the wall 30. Thereafter, the container closure is slipped over the container until the bottom edge of the container closure wall 22 contacts the vertex of the angle formed by the legs I2 and I4. Thereafter, the leg. I4 is bent to clamp the wall of the. container closure 22 between the legsI2 and I4 and to force the sharpened projection I8 and thesharpenedlugs 20 into the container closure wall 22.

When it is desired to remove the container closure from the container, the leg I4 is bent outwardly and away from the wall. 22 by means of some sharp pointed instrument, such as a screw driver. Thecontainer closure canthen be slipped ofl? of the container and then theclips. can be,

removed from the container wall 30 by bending downwardly on the legs I4 so as to withdraw the projections I6 from the container wall 30.

The container closure clip II! can be rapidly formed from any desired material, for example, strap metal, such as strap steel, by a relatively simple machine, and the clip I2 may be applied to the container closure, if desired, as a last step in the forming operation for the container. 10

Although the closure fastener of the present invention may be employed for containers for practically any desired commodity, it finds particular utility in fastening closures on containers used to package relatively heavy and bulky commodities, such as rolls of Cellophane (regenerated cellulose) or rolls of paper, foil, textiles or the like. When the container closure clip is in close fastening position, there is very little of the container closure accessible from the exterior which renders the closed containers exceptionally free from projections which are subject to interference withv other containers and other objects which would tend to accidentally dislodge the closure from the container as well as damage the walls of storage rooms and conveyers, and providea hazard to operators and the clothing of persons coming in contact with the closed container.

Any effort toward removal of the container clossures from the container without first bending the leg I4 away from the wall 22 of the container closure only results in more tightly fastening the container closur in place because there is no tendency for the closure clip to fulcrum about any point and thereby producea leverage which would disturb the clamping relation between the projections I6 and/or I8 and the adjacent parts of the container or container closure.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope. thereof, it is-intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

. .The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A package comprising a container having an open end, a tight-fitting closure member telescoped over the open end of said container, a U-shaped closure fastener positioned about the free edge of said closure, one leg of said fastener positioned between the closure and the container, said leg having an integral sharpened projection extending toward the open end of the container and embedded in the wall of the container, the other leg of said fastener positioned against the outside of .said closure and having an integral sharpened projection extending toward the open end of the closure and embedded in the outer wall of said closure, said oppositely extending projections permitting the closure carrying said fastener to slide onto the container but preventing removal of the closure therefrom.

2. A closure fastener adapted to be positioned about the free edge of a tight-fitting closure member telescoped over the open end of a con- .tainer, said fastener comprising a U-shaped said fastener having an integral sharpened proiiection extending downward on the inside of said eg. I

. .I-LARRY S. BROWN. 

